So, this has taken a while to sink in. About a month ago I found out that I have been awarded a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England. To say I’m over the moon would be an understatement!
The DYCP is like gold dust. It’s highly competitive (they fund around 25% of applicants - this is the second time I’ve applied), and it’s also one of the few grants that I’ve come across that - well, the clue is in the name - allows artists to focus purely on developing their creative practice. It’s going to give me the opportunity to take risks, to try new things (and not worry if I have a few failures along the way), to make connections and build networks, and ultimately, to learn a whole bunch of new stuff which will push my career as an artist forward, but without any pressure to deliver a project or have a particular outcome.
Have I mentioned I’m over the moon!?
So - what am I going to be doing?
I’ve been feeling the limits of working purely with digital processes. I love digital photography and technology, but sometimes it can feel slightly removed from the tactile, tangible, visceral nature of the concepts and subjects I’m depicting. I’ve dabbled a bit in more ‘hands-on’ photographic techniques such as cyanotype and anthotypes, but I’ve never had the time and headspace to really get stuck in to learning about alternative photographic processes. Also, as an environmentally-focused artist, I’ve been starting to feel the need to practice what I preach and learn about eco-friendly photography techniques and to start to incorporate them into my practice.
So that’s what I’m going to do. Titled ‘Developing a Sustainable Photography Practice’, my DYCP will fund me for a year of deep-diving into environmentally-friendly analogue photographic techniques that work with the tangible materials of place, bringing my processes into greater alignment with my concepts.
I’m going to be working with some brilliant organisations and mentors, starting this month with learning to develop my own film using seaweed with sustainable photography expert Melanie King, and attending the Sustainable Darkroom’s workshop week in London in September. I’ll also be spending lots of time in my studio trying out the techniques I’ve learned. I’ll share more on here as I go along - the successes and the failures! And I’ll be posting regular updates on my Instagram (see the ‘DYCP’ stories highlight) if you want to follow me on there.